Escape emotional eating

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"Eating isn't the answer to anything except hunger." You’ve probably heard a variation on that truth along the way on your wellness journey. So why do we often want to eat when we're stressed or sad or anxious? Because food, especially food that’s high in fat and/or added sugar, can—temporarily—balance out the feeling, by triggering the reward centers in our brains, flooding it with the feeling of pleasure.

But the drive to eat in those situations is external hunger, and unlike internal, physical, hunger, it’s not satisfied when we take in a sufficient number of calories or amount of food. No surprise that emotional eating can hamper your weight-loss efforts.

(Dis)comfort food

More than 50 percent of people who have issues with their weight say that they frequently turn to food when emotions run high.And the choices we make when our feelings drive us to the fridge or pantry tend to rack up SmartPoints® values without adding much nutritionally. (Too bad we don’t seem to crave apples or broccoli in those situations!) And that just makes things worse, because after the short-lived relief of “comfort food,” we feel bad, and the guilt and shame can lead you to want to eat again.

But emotional eating is a learned response that can become a habit. If you always turn to food for comfort when you feel a certain way, you will always want to eat when you feel that way. But as your Weekly explains, you can break this habit. Instead of turning to food, you can find true comfort in other ways, which will help you lose weight and keep it off.

Feel the feelings

It seems almost too simple, but just letting the feeling run its course can help. Emotions tend to act like waves: rising, peaking, then subsiding. So, turning to food when emotions are at their peak may comfort you in the moment, but the feeling will still be there after you’ve eaten. If you can recognize and acknowledge the emotion instead of trying to push it away, you'll find it eventually subsides.

What do you really want?

Reframing is a technique that can help you get to your true desire. Let’s say you find yourself snacking while watching TV. You had dinner an hour ago, so you’re probably not hungry. Maybe what you're really feeling is loneliness. What can you do to address those feelings without food? You could call a friend or relative, invite your neighbor over for tea, or hop onto Connect and get encouragement and solutions from other members.

Try a non-food fix

Put some distance between yourself and food for starters. Ask yourself what you're really after, and check the ideas in your Weekly for a healthy way to redirect the urge to eat when you’re not hungry; for instance, reading or meditating or even putting your smartphone down Try a little preventive medicine, too, by cultivating happiness with simple, easy moves.